How to handle lack of buttons early on

[LVEGDHT12]

Hello fellow Patchwork players:

I am down to 100 ELO after reaching 200 and I am losing my enjoyment for this game. I cannot win except for one game lately. My biggest problem is no buttons or barely any early in the game. My concern is advancing for buttons too much--because then time might run out to place patches. Somehow, I really stink at this game when I enjoy abstract strategy and tile placement. Other games on this site I am not good at and have stopped playing, such as Splendor and Century Spice Road--not a single win in the latter! What can I do to win Patchwork again? Thank you in advance.

[GiannisIsTheBeast]

On it's most basic level, try to get patches with buttons early in the game. This happens by passing sometimes several times to get enough buttons to buy another button patch. Middle to late in the game is when you should be picking up higher value pieces without buttons (the ones that are more awkward to place but are low cost) to fill in the rest of your board. I replayed a few of your games and you make the mistake a lot of people do by buying the pieces that best fit in your board instead of going for the ones that are most valuable. This gives your opponents opportunities to pull away from you and win by quite a bit. Ideally you are always trying to shape your board that even the highest value pieces seamlessly fit in without any gaps.